Opinions And Observations From Someone Who Has Been Reading Constantly For 30 Years, And Who Knows Where All The Books On The Internet Are Buried.
This Blog Will Also Be A Diary On My Journey To Make "Bookyards The Library" A Commercial Success.

Monday, March 19, 2012

London Book Fair Criticised For Inviting Only State-Approved Chinese Writers -- The Guardian

Exiled Chinese poet Bei Ling says he is 'amazed no independent voice, no exiled or dissident writer' is being represented

The London Book Fair is facing claims it has bowed to pressure from Chinese authorities by failing to invite dissident and exiled writers to next month's event and choosing only state-approved authors.

Bei Ling, an exiled poet and essayist, has written to the British Council, the organisers of the cultural programme of the fair, which is one of the biggest international publishing events in the world, expressing his surprise over its plans to host Chinese state-approved writers and organisations.

Friday, March 16, 2012

William Smellie, who co-created the first Encyclopedia Britannica in Edinburgh 244 years ago. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Printed Encyclopedias Were Once A Rare Source Of Knowledge. But No More -- Ian Jack, The Guardian

Information – 'the sum of human knowledge' – had a different shape in the era of the printed encyclopedia

There can be no clearer evidence of the swift and steep decline of the printed reference book than these figures taken from a recent New York Times: In 1990, the Encyclopedia Britannica sold 120,000 sets (each set comprising 32 volumes) in the USA. That turned out to be its peak year. Since its last revision in 2010, it has sold only 8,000 sets in the same market. Another 4,000 sets lie in a warehouse. When the last of those goes, the paper-and-ink Britannica will be no more. This week its publisher announced that future editions will appear exclusively online, bringing to a close a printing history that began in Edinburgh in 1768.Read more ....My Comment: I concur .... the web has changed everything.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the shelves of the New York Public Library. Ángel Franco/The New York Times

After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses -- New York Times

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.

Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered reference books that were once sold door-to-door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, company executives said.

In an acknowledgment of the realities of the digital age — and of competition from the Web site Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools. The last print version is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

(Reuters) - The Justice Department has warned Apple (AAPL.O) and five major publishers that it plans to sue them, accusing them of colluding to raise the prices of electronic books, a person familiar with the probe said on Thursday.

Several parties have held talks to settle the potential antitrust case, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.